


An Illusion of Gold

by Intuii (orphan_account)



Category: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Canon Continuation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, New Protagonist, Other, P.O.V., POV Johnny Cade, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Violence, different protagonist, point of view change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-21 22:46:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8263157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Intuii
Summary: Johnny hated the greasers, he really did, but he was scared for the war that was brewing.  He was tough enough to stand the blows of a single man, but any more was too much; it wasnt his style to fight for petty things.  He had his own war at home to struggle through, his own hero's footsteps to follow, and his own story to lead.  Johnny Cade cared too much, spoke too little, and shied away from the spotlight, but he was gold in his own way.  His gold shone bright, despite the darkness in his life.





	

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I fixed some typos and wording here or there. PLEASE, IF YOU SEE MISTAKES, NOTIFY ME

    Dally.  Strong, cold, tough Dally.  He was my hero for more reasons than the other boys could understand.  It wasn't really common knowledge, but I'd known Dallas before the rest of our group.  I think he was the one that pulled me out of the hell that was my own home.  The curtises and the rest of the gang helped me too, but Dally was the one that saved me for the first time, before the gang, before the war, before I'd even become a teenager.  

* * *

 

   Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes, hot, but soon turned to ice by the freezing air and brutal wind.  It was so cold, so painful, but I had to get away.  I had to escape the ceaseless yelling and flurry of knuckles hitting my face or stomach.  The rough, mudcaked boots that had hit my ribs then, minutes later, satisfied with the angry marks they'd left, clamored away loudly.  My mother's screeching voice rang in my ears when I ran, and the echo of my father's voice scolding her afterwards haunted my thoughts.  

     I was moving blindly.  Snow was beginning to fall lightly.   The thin jacket that I had hurried to throw on before I sprinted out of my house didn't help at all with keeping the icy cold away from my skin.  I shivered violently, and dropped back against the building nearest to me.  My head was pounding and I had to resist the urge to gag as the memory of alcohol laced breath invading my face forced its way to the front of my mind.  The ground around me was hard.  Concrete.  A black top maybe.  Weeds, shriveled up and dying from cold, grew near cracks in the rock.  I fingered their leaves absentmindedly as I willed myself not to cry, not to feel pity or hate towards my parents.  It didn't take a whole lot of trying for me to stop hating them, but I couldn't stop wishing they loved me.  My friends, the curtises, tried to tell me not to take it to heart, and that they would take care of me as much as they could, but it wasn't the same.  They still tried.  I'd be lying if I said it didn't help even a little.

     How long I sat there in the light, snowy lot near the park, I don't know.  It couldn't have been more than half an hour.  I just stayed there, dazed, staring at the small brown plants that I didn't feel like letting go of.  This wasn't the first time I'd left to get away from my parents, but it was the hardest to endure.  When I did decided to look up, it must've been from some noise Dallas had made.  I didn't know his name at the time, but it didn't matter.  If I had been in a better state, I think I would've noticed the blonde haired boy walking towards me from the front of the lot earlier.  At that moment, though, I was numb all over and wouldn't have been able to tell left from right.  I remember him looking at me with an odd look, mouthing something I couldn't quite hear over the wind, then scooping me up like I weighed less than a small child.  

     I looked up at him with big eyes, wondering what he was doing, and how he could pick me up so easily, seeing as he only looked to be a little older than I was.  Dallas looked at me questioningly with his head cocked to the side slightly.  I hadn't heard a single word he said, but I just closed my tired, tired eyes, and leaned my head on his shoulder, sagging into his arms.  Strangely enough, I wasn't worried about what he was going to do with me.  He was young enough to be trustworthy to me.  I never assumed somone so young would've hurt me.  My brain was pretty devoid of rational thought I guess, much like how Pony never used his own common sense. He stopped, then shrugged to himself and started walking.  He never said where he was going, or if he did, I didn't catch it over the noisy wind in our ears.  Questions flew out of my mind as I slipped into a freezing, fitful rest in the stranger's arms. 

* * *

    I woke up to warmth and darkness.  Thick blankets were piled on me, comfortable, almost stifling.  A window above the bed I was on let in some yellow glow from a streetlight outside.  Enough, at least, that I could faintly make out the rest of room.  My body ached a little from the evening before, and I was too nervous to get up, so I stayed curled up on the springy mattress, under the soft covers.  Everything was silent except for the creaks of the house- or maybe apartment- that I was in, and the cars occasionally driving along a gravel road.  No one stirred and no lights clicked on.  It occurred to me that I could've been kidnapped, but I dismissed the thought.  No kidnapper I'd ever heard of was nice enough to go through the trouble of keeping their hostages warm and comfortable.  I was scared, and curious but I didn't move since I didn't feel like going anywhere I shouldn't have.

       Exhaustion was tugging at my eyelids like weights when the front door opened.  Bright streaks fanned out beneath the door when the hall lights clicked on.  My heart sped up as footsteps echoed closer and closer, but the door opened to reveal only the same boy as before.  I relaxed a bit at the sight of him.  His hair was blonde, almost white, and thin.  It was kinda long, and fell in waves around his neck, and face.  It wasn't greased like mine usually was.  At the time, I barely used grease for my hair, just a small amount to keep it from going everywhere like his.

    Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I forgot the aching in my sides.  I pushed myself up, so I didn't have to squint at him and he stepped in, as quiet as I was.  He was being careful when he sat gently on the edge of the bed. I wanted to trust him, but I still backed up a little, still retreated away from the unknown. He was looking at me the same as I was looking at him.  We were both curious, yet wary of the other.

    Though he looked intimidating, I wasn't too scared of him.  If I tried to run, he would have had me down in a second, so I didn't try to do anything.  A couple seconds passed and the boy held a hand out, For a handshake or I didn't really know.  Either way I didn't plan on meeting him halfway.  Nothing could've made me move forward in that moment, I was still thinking of the hand that struck my face and scuffed the back of my head.  It was obvious I wasn't going to move, so he shuffled closer to my comfortable pile.  My back straightened when his hand brushed against my cheek.  His thumb brushed across a deep bruise below my eye as he examined it.  He moved my head to the side, towards the hall light.  After a fast look at it he motioned for me to move closer to him again.

    "Come here.  Let me see your side." He was murmuring, and his voice was smooth and quiet, not really low or high.  It was pleasant.  This time I knew he wouldn't let me say no.  Patience wasn't a strong suit of his.  Hot temper to match hot blood that coursed through his hands and his whole body. I complied and shed the blankets.  Bitter cold, air stabbing like ice.  Shivers ran up my spine and wracked my body  as I pulled my shirt off.  "Don't worry.  I won't take too long."  

   As promised, he didn't spend much time looking at the scratches and purpling bruises.  "Whoever did this really wasn't holding back."  He looked me in the eye.  "Do you want some ice?  You're pretty lucky none of your ribs are beat up too badly.  Ice might help, but its freezing outside, and you don't need to be freezing inside too, so I won't force you to use any.."

    I shook my head fiercely.  "They can heal on their own.  They have before."  He was trying to figure it out-why I seemed so use to it- and on some level he undertood, because he didn't ask about it.  He just untied his shoes, tossed his jacket on them, and sat right next to me, tugging the blankets over himself.

    The boy spoke again when I pulled my shirt on and burrowed under the heavy covers again.  "What's your name?"  I felt silly for not telling him earlier.  He hadn't told me his name either, though, so maybe I was just waiting for his.

   "Johnny Cade... What's yours?" 

    "Dallas Winston.  You can just call me Dally, alright?" I nodded, and twisted and squirmed under the blankets until I was facing him.  There was an odd casualness to our situation.  Neither of us minded, but I find it funny, looking back.  Now I had a name to a face, and both a name and face to a saviour.  That's what he was at that moment.  He'd saved me and given me hope that night.

    "How old are you?  I'm twelve, thirteen next month, but you seem older.  You carried me so easily too."  I was amazed by Dallas, at least his strength.  I wanted to be like him in the respect of physical ability.

   "Fourteen, turning fifteen in two months."  He smiled for the first time that night, and I wished I had as charming a smile as him.  It was the only genuine smile of his I ever saw. "And you're pretty light for a kid your age. I've taken much heavier stuff.  I grew up in New York, heavy work is common there."  

    "Did you move here?"  If he'd said he was staying in our old little city, I would've stuck to his side from there on out.  Sadly, he wasnt.  He shook his head.

     "My old man came out here for some work.  We're only here for a month."  He hesitated before explaining further.  "He doesn't really like me.  I mean, he never hits me, but whether I'm alive or dead, Sick or in top condition, don't matter a single bit to him. My only worth is in my ability to help with work."  Dallas really looked uncomfortable, but he was talkative.  When he was young he didn't have a filter.  I listened partly because I believed I was the first one he'd told this all to.  He was so eager to share, like he was just tiching to say it to someone.  My attention was on him everytime he moved or spoke, yet he spoke like what he said wasn't very important.  

   "Usually, my dad barely comes home at night.  He's probably at a bar right now, drinking till he'll be bitter and plain horrible tomorrow.  We should be careful though.  If he knew you were here, I don't know what he'd do.  I took a wild guess that he wasn't coming home tonight because I had to help you, but I can't help anything he does if he returns."  He half grinned to lighten his words.  "I've been talking too long Johnny, you should've stopped me.  We could leave soon if you don't want to get in trouble- just to be safe.  Or you can stay here if you'd like, since it doesn't seem like you have a place to go right now.  I just wanted you to know that my dad is pretty unpredictable."  

     An easy choice.  I didn't care about any father besides my own.  Anything that happened now would at least be expected.  "I want to stay."  I whispered.  "It's alright with me if I get in trouble, I just can't go back yet.  Is it okay for you though?"  

    He waved away the concern.  "He'll be mad at me for one reason or another either way.  I'd rather he be angry about you than about something else.  Don't worry.  If he finds out you're here, I won't let him touch you."  

    Words.  They wouldn't come to me.  That was the most generous offer I'd recieved at this point in my life.  Protection from someone else.  I never had that.  I had refuge and help, but never protection.  Never a wall between my pain and its cause.  "Thank you."  I whispered.  I left our conversation at that.  I was tired, grateful, excited, maybe even giddy.  My mind was buzzing; my body urged me to sleep.  

    "Anytime Johnnycake."  He was smiling again.  A clever sort of smile.  He looked wide awake, but Dally was quiet after that too.  His icy eyes watched me, unashamed, unwavering.  I wondered whether it was out of curiosity, or just for the sake of watching something as he lay awake.  Every now and then he twitched at the sound of  tires on gravel or a distant shout. If he was so edge about his father, then why on Earth would he help me.  It was baffling.  

     

* * *

     I ended up under Dally's arms when I fell asleep.  He radiated warmth, and no matter how warm the blankets were, he was warmer.  While I fell asleep he brushed his fingers through my hair.  I wondered if he had a kid brother he did that to as well, or maybe an older brother that had done it to him once before, because he knew how to make me fall asleep too quickly to never have done it.  

    I slept lightly, having already gotten rest when I was found.  Unsurprisingly, I woke up a couple hours earlier than Dallas.  He was curled up, back to the wall, arms trapping me.  He looked my age when he was asleep.  It was easy to forget he was fourteen.  When he spoke, he seemed older.  It was the roughness, the straightforward way he used his words.  He was tall too, and his features were sharp.  Yeah, it was really easy to forget he was only fourteen. 

    In sleep Dallas looked softer.  His hair fell across his face in tufts.  It poofed up in the back, some sticking to the pillow with static electricity (something we recently learned about it science).  I was close enough to see his eyelashes, unnaturally long, but unnoticeable from far away.  

    I still think of that morning as one of my favorite mornings.  The sun rose quickly.  It wasn't too special, but it's always nice watching them.  The way their colors mix and the way the sun makes everything look like it's burning.  My thoughts wandered everywhere, as I laid there drowsily.

      I dreaded going back home when Dally woke up, so I stayed still in the sleepy heat and thought for a while.  When he started to stir, I stiffened, but he was waking up.  I couldn't really stop it.  He yawned and lifted his arm off of the side of my stomach that had no bruises running down it.  Sleepy confusion clouded his eyes for a second when he opened them to the bright sunlit room, but once they adjusted memory cleared them.   "Looks like we were lucky..  Man I thought for sure he was gonna come back, I was up forever."  He stayed laying down.  It was Saturday, so there wasn't school or a lot of people working.  I wished I could've stayed there all day, but eventually Dally pushed his laziness away and got up.  I followed him, and reluctantly got out of the bed.   He walked around the room, comfortable in the temporary placement of everything there.

    While Dally  brushed his hair, changed, and got ready, I sat on the bedside with my shoes and jacket, ready to go.  When he yelled from the bathroom, asking where I wanted to go for breakfast I brightened up immediately, glad I wasn't going home right away.  I yelled back, telling him of a small, but really good diner close to my house.  He walked in the room, grabbed a wallet, threw me a bigger coat, probably three sizes too big, and said we were walking there.

     It was beyond freezing that morning.  Worse than the night before.  We rushed to the diner and quickly picked stools right at the counter.  Dallas ordered a big breakfast and I just asked for an omelet with ham and cheese.  We talked some more, mostly Dallas, but he kept asking questions, forcing me to talk.  I specifically remember him asking if I'd been anywhere else besides our town.  

"Not once."  I'd answered taking a sip of my orange juice.  "I don't think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon either."  I said with a sad smile.

  "That's not always a bad thing.  At least you've got someplace nice and permanent.  I hate moving around so much for my old man's job."  He smirked.  "At least I got to meet you though."  It was a nice thought, but it got me thinking about him leaving again.

        We finished our breakfast and finally went to go back to my house.   _Not yet_ I thought.  Instead of my own house, I led the way to the curtis's house.  They were nice people, and maybe they'd understand that I couldn't go home yet.  I knew the two youngest boys Sodapop and Ponyboy.  I stopped on the doorstep, not keen on going in, but not ready to stay with Dally longer than I had to.  

    Dally said goodbye first.  "See you later Johnnycake."  He was grinning, and it made me want to grin too.  

    "Yeah, see ya.  How much longer are you staying?"

    "About one more week.  We have to leave before Sunday."  

     "I'll see you around then."  I confirmed.  He nodded and turned to leave, but I stopped him.  "Thanks Dally.  You saved me yesterday, probably more than you realise."  He was glowing, with pride?  Accomplishment?  Relief?  It was impossible to tell, but by now I kind of figured it was always hard to tell with Dallas.  I felt like I already knew him, part of him at least.  I didn't want to see him go, but he gave me hope.  And I really hoped he'd come back.

    "Anytime Johnnycake.  Anytime."  Without another word he walked away, and I turned the corner, out of sight.  I had to face my parents, and I wanted to go back while I had that hope.

    That week I saw Dally two more times, but it was only for a few minutes because he was out and working with his father.  My own old man didn't so much as look at me for the rest of the week.  It hurt, but for the first time that pain was lessened.  I was happy to have someone to look forward to seeing.  

    On Saturday Dallas left.  I saw him blazing out of town in a big truck.  Everything stayed the same when he was gone, but I was stronger now.  Dally had saved me, and he was coming back.


End file.
